Effectively, as an advertiser, you can pay for some info on someone you have the option to show an ad to.
They'll tell you things like "they are in their 40s and love anime and shopped at target recently"
The worst part is that typically, when you get hyper-specific enough, you can make unidentified info identifiable.
"Male, muslim, just got married, works as a plumber, late 20s, lives in this part of this city, has this device" and then paired with "has this IP" (narrows down to the block or house)
Also the US government buys the same info via shell companies.
."has this IP" (narrows down to the block or house)
Even worse, They know what room you're in.
I sold geolocation advertising and they know where your cell phone is within 15'.
Ever notice an ad from a competitor of a business you just visited? Car lots love this one. They geotag all the other car lots in town and if you go to one of them, the next time you check Kelly Blue book on this used Camry, an ad for a deal on a Honda Civic pops up.
I worked at a retail store that had some sort of Google beacon that would give our store the top search result if someone used Google in the store. At least I think that's how it worked.
Effectively, as an advertiser, you can pay for some info on someone you have the option to show an ad to.
They'll tell you things like "they are in their 40s and love anime and shopped at target recently"
The worst part is that typically, when you get hyper-specific enough, you can make unidentified info identifiable.
"Male, muslim, just got married, works as a plumber, late 20s, lives in this part of this city, has this device" and then paired with "has this IP" (narrows down to the block or house)
Also the US government buys the same info via shell companies.
Even worse, They know what room you're in.
I sold geolocation advertising and they know where your cell phone is within 15'.
Ever notice an ad from a competitor of a business you just visited? Car lots love this one. They geotag all the other car lots in town and if you go to one of them, the next time you check Kelly Blue book on this used Camry, an ad for a deal on a Honda Civic pops up.
Creepy as hell
I worked at a retail store that had some sort of Google beacon that would give our store the top search result if someone used Google in the store. At least I think that's how it worked.
I can totally see that being marketed as something like "for streamlining the customer experience"